College and high school student participants proved to spectators that engineering can be both creative and fun at the Seventh Annual Edible Car Contest.
Seventy-two contestants, an overall of 23 teams, participated in this year’s contest held in celebration of National Engineering Week in the IVCC cafeteria on Feb. 22.
The previous speed record was shattered by Hall High School students Tony Victor, Chelsea Wallaert, and Brisa Moreno of Team Awesome with a time of .42 seconds or 238 “mouthfuls per hour.”
Along with the speed contest, there were nine other categories recognized at the event. Among the other categories included were Creativity, Design, Detail, Engineering Drawings, Faculty-Staff, High School, Most Nutritious, Prospective Engineers, and Student Organizations.
“Our purpose is to help students be aware of engineering fields; and what those fields entail,” said contest organizer Dorene Perez, program coordinator computer-aided design at IVCC. Other organizers of the contest include Jim Gibson and communications instructor Rose Marie Lynch.
According to Putnam County High School students Megan Hewitt and Scotty Urnikis, the most difficult part of constructing the car was finding axles that would allow the car to roll.
Hewitt and Urnikis surfed the internet to find ideas for their edible car. The pair decided to use a cucumber, shortbread cookies, rice krispies, and other tasty items.Judges of the contest were Elaine Novak, dean of the Division of Career and Technical Programs, Bob Hunter, IVCC webmaster, industry representative Ron Wagner, and former IVCC students Luke Maltis and Kelli Whightsil.
The IVCC Division of Career and Technical Programs and the Making Industry Meaningful in College (MIMIC) project sponsored the event. Original funding for the contest was provided by a National Science Foundation grant.
Teams were asked to include at least one female member since encouraging more women to consider careers in engineering technology is one goal of the contest.
Visit www.ivcc.edu/nsf or contact Perez at 815-224-0221 for additional information on IVCC’s edible car contests.